It is unfortunate in itself that the
disability community at-large has found it fitting to use the word “inclusion”
when referring to our beloved children, siblings, parents or friends with disabilities.
The term inclusion in itself
is deceiving.
So I have given much thought to the
moments when I read about employers that do the bare minimum to engage persons
with disabilities. The truth is, I cannot blame them. For they are doing
nothing less than complying with the very proposition that the term inclusion
suggests:
Include. Rather than engage, support,
or invest in - just simply, include.
Inclusion
How unfortunate that our desperate
natural desire and dependency on labels has yielded a term that only suggests
the bare minimum of its necessity.
So, without griping anymore on the
term, as it has been etched into stone (at least for now), let’s focus on what
the true definition of “Inclusion” should be to employers, community leaders
and politicians alike, when we are speaking of persons with disabilities. Here are five terms of TRUE INCLUSION for leaders, employers
and communities, when seeking to engage persons with disabilities. Although
these are not the synonyms you will find for inclusion in any dictionary, these
are the terms that should replace them.
Understanding
Education leads to understanding. But
who are we suggesting needs education: those persons with disabilities? NO.
Here I am referring to education that the employer and its employees need. All too often, when an employer embarks on a pathway that
leads to inclusion, they only fulfill their expected obligation to hire persons
with disabilities. They often exceed expectations in training the person with
disabilities as it relates to their responsibilities at the workplace. But
equally as infrequent do they invest in training for those who would be
colleagues of persons with disabilities. Consequently they know little or
nothing as it pertains to their nuances, their needs, and most importantly
their RIGHTS.
It would not only behoove an employer
to educate every employee about the benefits of hiring, working and supporting
persons with disabilities, because of the issue of rights, but more
importantly, it elevates a sense of comradeship, engagement and community when
all can partake in the essence of inclusion… Independence.
Planning
Once you have educated those within
your organization as to the items mentioned above, the next step is planning.
Planning for what? Planning for
change, moderation and growth.
Plan for change:
Very often, organizations change
products, store layouts, goals and even more often, employees. This change
usually happens with planning in place. So what more planning do you need?
Persons with disabilities, often
function best under a structured atmosphere, and as a matter of fact, most
businesses do as well. So, when change occurs, have you thought about the
ramifications of such change as it relates to an employee with disabilities?
1. Product Change. Will an employee
with disabilities find him/herself in a change of role & responsibilities?
Have you prepared that person for such change?
2. Change on the color identification
of your products, or perhaps even the design of your interior space: Does the
person with disabilities depend on the colors of your products and/or design
layout in order to process functional roles and tasks? Have you prepared that
person for such change?
3. Corporate goals change Standard
Operating Procedures: Will new operating procedures require new tasks and/or
processes for completion? Have you informed the person with disabilities in
preparation for such change?
4. Are you promoting, moving or
firing an employee? What is the relationship of this employee with the person
with disabilities? How are they connected within the business structure (boss,
colleague)? How are they connected personally (friend, mentor)? How are they connected operationally (complete tasks
together, tasks are co-dependent)?
Persons with disabilities depend on
structure and consistency when it comes to expected tasks and workplace
competency. Any ripple to those operational characteristics would need to be
imperatively communicated to the person with disabilities BEFORE they occur. If
preparation for change is important for a business, then ten-fold it is for a
person with disabilities.
Equability
An employer’s ability to educate its
employees and plan for the occupation of a person with disabilities, will allow
them to balance both expectations and accountability.
Depending on the person with
disabilities, expectations will vary when you are laying out workplace tasks and responsibilities. Likewise, such thought should be
put into a healthy structure of accountability for the person with disabilities.
Let’s look at these two separately for a brief moment.
Expectations:
What we expect from the person with
disabilities should neither be lofty nor debasing. You must strike a balance,
or equability for true success of this inclusion.
Expectations should be based on the
abilities of the person, NOT THE DISABILITY. When you plan out tasks, goals and
responsibilities around their abilities, you lend the engagement of your
organization to the exploration of independence. When you plan with the disability
of the person as the superior thought, you really are only planning for reliance.
Accountability:
The fact that we are speaking of
persons with disabilities by no means denotes the pointlessness of
accountability. Accountability methods should absolutely be established for the
person with disabilities. Accountability, goals and tasks clearly connected to
that accountability is a crucial and necessary tool for the intent of
Independence.
These accountability methods should be clearly communicated to the person with
disabilities. This is where most employers fail. Their attempt to communicate
these measures, fall upon distinctive abilities. A letter, or memo, or even a
conversation in passing may not be enough to effectively communicate such measures
to a person with disabilities.
Try the following:
▪
Reviewing Accountability Methods with
the person with disabilities on a one-on-one basis in a place that is quiet and
allows attentiveness.
▪
Utilizing visual support systems that
enhance the subjective application of the accountability methods (photos of
actual employees, photos of the workplace and/or departments within the
workplace)
▪
Use charts that create a visual
‘relational’ diagram of how their responsibilities and tasks impact the rest of
their team, or colleagues.
▪
Ask questions about the methods and
discuss openly with the individual with disabilities about their comfort-level
and understanding of those measures.
Support Systems
Let’s lay the cards out on the table.
We are not talking about support by means of a hotline or email. We are talking
about personal, humanistic, neighborly support.
There is an old saying that goes:
“The house did not collapse due to dense rain; instead it sunk due to being
fabricated on sand.” The point here is that support systems without proper
education and planning are like building a house on sand. When it falls apart,
to blame the support would be like blaming the rain.
If you have put conscientious effort
into the prior three steps, then you have already laid bricks as your
foundation for inclusion. Here are some ideas for molding solid foundational
support systems for persons with disabilities:
▪
Creating a professional peer group
that discusses and explores strategies for better inclusion within the
corporate environment
▪
Having regular meetings with
colleagues and the person(s) with disabilities to discuss workplace tasks,
concerns and offering a suggestion box, or what we like to call it: SPARKING
SPACES: Ideas that create a spark.
▪
Have regular meetings with the
family, or support network of the person with disabilities. Often, challenges
outside of the work environment, can impact behavior or performance at the
workplace. Wait, that happens to ALL OF US!
▪
Create performance milestones for the
person with disabilities. They cannot achieve independence, if they do not see
the value in growth. Mundane, routine-like tasks at work may be what most think
are easiest for persons with disabilities. Thus why we see so many of our loved
ones with disabilities, bagging at our local supermarket. What’s next for them?
Will they ever move up and feel accomplishment? That is a question for the
employer to answer.
CELEBRATE!
Celebrating the hard work that goes
into educating, planning and balancing the workplace for persons with disabilities
is not only productive, but it is rewarding.
When you have provided education to
employees on “inclusion,” allow the conclusion to be a celebration of the
topic. When you have implemented planned change, and executed on those plans,
celebrate it, with all of your employees. When you have struck a fine balance
within your operational procedure that confer with both expectations and
accountability equally, celebrate it, with the entire team, department, and
even the organization.
Your organization’s successes in its
pathway to inclusion should be celebrated at each stage as the landmark it is.
Celebrate Inclusion, and all those around you will join in on the celebration!
